Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners: Simple Recipes and Fun Ideas to Turn Meal Time to Quality Time [Hardcover]

Betty Crocker Editors (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2004

Betty Crocker makes family time the best time for everyone with great-tasting recipes and plenty of fun ideas!

Dinnertime + Family Time = Together Time. What could be more important to you and your family? This book helps you make dinnertime together a reality with recipes the whole family will love, from classics like Chicken and Vegetables with Dumplings to all-time kid favorites like Sloppy Joes. Best of all, the recipes are truly easy, the Betty Crocker way. From America's Most Trusted Kitchens(TM), these are the foolproof recipes that you know your family will enjoy (even the picky eaters!) because they've been tested and tasted time and again.

Here are delicious recipes and great ideas that make dinnertime a pleasure:
* 30 Minutes to Dinner
Bacon-Cheeseburger Pizza, Southwest Chicken Skillet, Penne with Cheesy Tomato Sauce
* Have Dinner Anywhere
Italian Country Sandwich, Turkey-Jalapeno Quesadillas, Asian Chicken Roll-Ups
* Slow Cooking that's Fast for You
Italian Beef Stew, Southwestern Pot Roast, Spicy Pork Tacos
* Kids Can Cook!
Cheesy Chicken Strips, Ravioli Supper Soup, Tuna Noodle Casserole

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

At the end of a long day, what could be better than gathering the family for a meal to share together? But sometimes it feels like there’s no time to sit down to a real dinner. Everyone has a different lineup of activities–from homework to sports to parent-teacher meetings–and sometimes it seems easier to just grab a bite on the go.

With this cookbook, Betty Crocker can help even the busiest families enjoy the simple pleasures of being together. Some families set aside one night of the week or the month; for others it’s just a matter of paying attention every day to the little things that make life as a family special and rewarding. More and more, parents realize that making time to be together is one of the most important things they can do for themselves and their children.

Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners was created to help your family make the most of dinnertime–whether you have little ones at home or school-age kids who you barely have a chance to check in with some days. Packed with easy recipes that appeal to kids and grownups alike, like Cheesy Chicken Skillet Dinner and Mini Italian Meat Loaves, this cookbook adds loads of fun with everyday Together Time ideas on every page. Check them out whenever you’re looking for an attractive and super-simple activity that everyone can enjoy together.

On nights when you choose a Family Fun menu, planning is a breeze. You can follow the suggestions for a theme dinner you know your family will love, whether it’s Mexican or Italian or another favorite. Everyone can pitch in to help (there are plenty of things the kids can do by themselves). Then, after dinner, check out some great ideas to make the evening a memorable one. Let everyone use their imagination and go for it!

There’s always something new and fun to explore with your family. Let Betty Crocker help you make the most of dinnertime together.

From the Back Cover

Betty Crocker makes family time the best time for everyone with great-tasting recipes and plenty of fun ideas!

Dinnertime + Family Time = Together Time. What could be more important to you and your family? This book helps you make dinnertime together a reality with recipes the whole family will love, from classics like Chicken and Vegetables with Dumplings to all-time kid favorites like Sloppy Joes. Best of all, the recipes are truly easy, the Betty Crocker way. From America’s Most Trusted Kitchens™, these are the foolproof recipes that you know your family will enjoy (even the picky eaters!) because they’ve been tested and tasted time and again.

Here are delicious recipes and great ideas that make dinnertime a pleasure:

• 30 Minutes to Dinner
  Bacon-Cheeseburger Pizza, Southwest Chicken Skillet, Penne with Cheesy Tomato Sauce
• Have Dinner Anywhere
  Italian Country Sandwich, Turkey-Jalapeno Quesadillas, Asian Chicken Roll-Ups
• Slow Cooking that’s Fast for You
  Italian Beef Stew, Southwestern Pot Roast, Spicy Pork Tacos
• Kids Can Cook!
  Cheesy Chicken Strips, Ravioli Supper Soup, Tuna Noodle Casserole

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Betty Crocker; 1 edition (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764544187
• ISBN-13: 978-0764544187
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #645,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Since 1921, the Betty Crocker name has symbolized the General Mills continuing tradition of service to consumers. Although Betty was never a real person, her name and identity have become synonymous with helpfulness, trustworthiness and quality.

Betty Crocker has survived the decades by providing consumers with food information and food products that are contemporary without being faddish. The first hardcover cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook was published in 1950 and quickly became a national best seller. Since then, more than 250 Betty Crocker cookbooks have been published.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for cooking and family time!, May 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners: Simple Recipes and Fun Ideas to Turn Meal Time to Quality Time (Hardcover)

Trust Betty Crocker to come up with a book combining cooking with family time!

Long overdue (I don't know WHY no one has thought of this before!), this book gives great recipes that take little time and stress along with ideas for family together time. The ideas are fun and do-able with little preparation or supplies. Get your kids cooking in the kitchen with you, or just keep them busy while you cook. It's all here and you can do the activities w/out much forethought.

This is great for people wanting to spend less time in the kitchen, but still feed their families good meals and more time talking to their kids and spouses.

I recommend this highly!!!!!!!!!!! Let your kids pick out the meals and activities, do family "theme" nights. A great book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As the title says: easy FAMILY dinners, February 18, 2005

By 

kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!" (Heart of Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners: Simple Recipes and Fun Ideas to Turn Meal Time to Quality Time (Hardcover)

As the previous person commented this cookbook is not bobbie flay or emeril. It's not suppose to be. It's for busy families with kids. It has suggestions for quick and easy dinners that the kids can help prepare. It's not gourmet, it's not suppose to be. It does have cute suggestions with activities to do with the kids. I loved it. It does use packaged foods and prepared ingredients but so what? Who doesn't nowadays? Worth it.

I and the kids made the Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza together. The recipe called for slicing a French Loaf in half horizontally. I cooked the ground beef with onion in a skillet and then drained off all the fat. I stirred in a jar of pizza sauce. The mixture is then spread over the bread. The kids sprinkled with diced tomatoes, cooked bacon bits, and shredded cheese. It took about 15 minutes in the oven to heat through. After it came out of the oven we topped with shredded lettuce. The "together time" suggestion was to play your favorite CD and dance around the kitchen with the kids while preparing dinner. Another suggestion was to let the kids measure the ingredients out themselves.

How I usually save more time is often when I'm frying ground beef already (as in the recipe above) I'll fry up a 5 lb roll with a couple of chopped onions. The above recipe called for one pound but then I used the Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum bags four pint size baggies and froze the rest of the cooked ground beef in one pound portions. Next time I need cooked ground beef it's already cooked and saves at least 10-15 minutes needed to cook it. Dinner is on the table that much quicker.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good, some bad...., July 10, 2005

By 

bizzy mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners: Simple Recipes and Fun Ideas to Turn Meal Time to Quality Time (Hardcover)

I found this ro be something of a disappointment as almost all of the recipes use highly processed foods of some sort and I feel that there is very little attention to dietary requirements. The sodium content, particularly, of many meals I found alarming and would not make many of the meals for my young kids, especially not on an every night basis. Having said that, there are a couple of recipes - the chicken pot pie in particular stands out - that are quite nutritious, especially if you take chef's privilege and use more fresh veg/less salt! 3 stars for those few recipes.

Overall, an okay purchase as a used item but I wouldn't recommend paying full price for it.